A delegation of residents of Shettyhalli and Chitra Shettyhalli that come under the purview of Shettyhalli wildlife sanctuary led by Kagodu Thimmappa, former Minister, met K.B. Sivakumar, Deputy Commissioner, here on Wednesday and requested him to shift the villages.
In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, the villagers said that Shettyhalli and Chitra Shettyhalli that were revenue villages were declared as part of the sanctuary in the year 1976 without taking their consent.
After the declaration, permission has been denied for works related to upgradation of civic amenities in the villages including drawing electricity lines and for upgradation of the road that connects them with Shivamogga city, citing laws related to protection of forest and wildlife. Without the power connection, the agriculture operations have received a setback, they said.
In the memorandum, the residents said that crops cultivated by the villagers are destroyed by wild animals regularly. The inhabitants of both the villages have also become vulnerable to health problems including Kyasanur Forest Disease(KFD), also known as monkey fever.
The residents wanted both villages shifted to the vacant government land near Govindapura and Puradal villages in Shivamogga taluk, all civic amenities provided at the new place and the farmers given alternative land for the land that they cede. They have also demanded a government job for one person from each family.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Thimmappa said that the families that were displaced from Sharavathi hydel power project form the major chunk of the population of Shetthalli and Chitra Shettyhalli villages. Owing to the restrictions prevailing for upgradation of civic amenities, both the villages have become uninhabitable. It forms the obligation of the government to rehabilitate the villagers at the vacant government land near Govindapura and Puradal and thereby bring them to the mainstream, he added.
